


nuits d'été

by springfield0773



Category: DCeased (DC Comics), Super Sons (Comics)
Genre: Affairs, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Conversations, F/F, First Time, Friendship, Heartbreak, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:08:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27744265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springfield0773/pseuds/springfield0773
Summary: Oscar Anton & Clementine - nuits d'été
Relationships: Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne, Kathy Branden/Maya Ducard, One-sided Rachel Roth/Damian Wayne
Comments: 7
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

_ Et j'en ai passé du temps à écrire toutes ces lignes _

_ Et j'suis encore hésitante, est-ce que c'est vraiment utile? _

_ C'est vrai le temps passe vite, mais c'est facile à dire _

_ Moi j'ai plutôt l'impression qu'il ne fait que ralentir _

_ Et j'en ai passé du temps à écrire toutes ces lignes _

_ Et j'suis encore hésitante, est-ce que c'est vraiment utile? _

_ C'est vrai le temps passe vite, mais c'est facile à dire _

_ Moi j'ai plutôt l'impression qu'il ne fait que ralentir _

Sometimes Damian thinks it’s unsettling how quickly people and relationships can change. One second he was the apple of his mother's eyes the next she killed him cold blooded. Then even though he had swore to strip Timothy Drake off everything he stole from him, his father’s love, his place as father’s son, now he would not hesitate to take a bullet for the guy. And there was also Richard and Pennyworth, whom he was so sure, so desperately sure would always have his back, now gone, one dead, one just couldn’t remember. 

Once he was Jon’s best friend and they would spend almost everyday not without each other, now he is just an awkward piece that no longer fits in the Super’s world. 

Sometimes Damian feels scared of the uncertainty he has to face, completely helpless before things and events he couldn’t have been able to control. That’s why he missed being Damian Al Ghul, when he was under his mother’s protection, at the League where everything is in harmony, people know where their places are and what they deserve, when he wasn’t exposed to the shared lives of his father, brothers and the very few friends he has, or still has. 

“Are you thinking something edgy again?” 

That voice belongs to his partner for this mission, Nobody, aka Maya Ducard, who is lying next to him, as battered and exhausted as he is due to the mass of assassin bodies lying dead, as they were supposed to be before someone turned them into an army of zombies, scattered around them. 

“... No.” 

Above their heads the sky is clear and bright, with giant carefree chunks of fat cloud floating slowly and dragging along with them huge shadows on the freshly green, red dyed grass, a beautiful day at  Schwarzwälder Belchen in Germany, perfect for picnic and undead assassins war. The scenery and the mood of the site, though not without the pungent scent of blood in the air, makes Damian feel lazy all of the sudden, and he assumes the same for Maya too, since it has been 5 minutes after the last walking dead fell down and none of them has yet to move a toe. 

“You are.” She said as if breathing the words out, obviously too tired. 

“I’m not thinking about something edgy ‘again’. I’ve never thought about edgy things, if you must know, Ducard.” 

“Oh please. Your existence alone screams egdyness.” 

“It does not!” 

“It does, just accept that it does.” 

Then peace returns again to the restless duo with their back against the ground mercerized with their enemy’s blood. It does come to question sometimes how they got themselves into this part, but the answer is as en claire as the sun being so annoyingly bright right now: They were born into it, and there wasn’t much of a choice. 

“... You know 2 weeks ago Kathy found out I’m still taking assassin jobs. 

We had a huge fight. I guess it didn’t matter to her whether the people I killed were assholes that had brought misery on too many heads they thought they owned . They didn’t deserve to live, but she wouldn’t even try to understand that. 

Then again, I suppose killing is a part of me that I can’t shake off no matter how hard I try to pretend that I feel suffice with just a normal life. 

And I did try.”

“Ducard…” 

“We broke up…”

“That sucks.” Now and again Damian and people around him would just accept that he’s not the best comforter out there. 

“Yeah. Hurts like a bitch.” 

“... Are you going to cry?” 

“No.”

“Thank god, I wouldn’t know what to do if you were.” 

“I know, I know, my little social awkward baby.” 

Damian does feel a bit remorse. He had thought the moment Maya announced they were going out that he had never seen his sister so happy before. Maya Ducard, thanks to him, is alone in this world without a family, so Branden was so good for her. Damian wasn’t the type to celebrate love or adore romance like his siblings, but only that time he was happy for Maya. With that lingering thought of the old days the Arabic found his hand wrapped in the other’s, fingers knitting, as his own way of saying that he’s sorry. Nobody returns the hold, smiling a little at the cloud that looks suspicious like a chubby white cat. 

“So now are you going to tell me how Superboytoy crushed your heart? Because I won’t stand being the only heartbroken around here. Hell, some assholes in those dead people piles probably had a more satisfying romance than we do.” 

“You think you know me so well don’t you, Nobody.” Damian knows she does, annoyingly so, maybe even better than he knows himself. 

“It doesn’t really take a genius like me to see that you have feelings for your best friend Damian. Anyone who has more than a working brain cell knows, but still that idiotic crush of yours didn’t pick it up... Man, the S really stands for ‘Stupid’ doesn’t it?” Usually Damian would laugh at the remark, but lately he hasn’t been able to feel cheerful as he used to when it comes to a certain Kryptonian. 

Robin closes his eyes and tries not to remember the mood, the smell, the taste of that night. Of the dinner Mrs. Kent prepared for them when Jon took that girl from the future home to introduce to his parents. 

_ Damian didn’t know why he was even there. Lois had called him over, the same Lois that gave him a firm hold on the shoulder later when he was helping her with the dishes. Apparently Maya was right about him wearing his heart on his sleeve, even Superman knew, and although he had with him a telepathic-blocker he bet that Saturn Girl knew too. She was reaching out to hook up with Jon’s arm whenever she caught his eyes.  _

“... Should have stuffed the pie in that bitch’s face.” 

“Holy shit, I didn’t take you for that extreme jealous type.” 

_ After dinner they were having a slow night, which meant no criminal chasing or monster beating, just family talk over snacks, some games of poke and movies playing on the TV just to be ignored. But mostly it felt like it was just Jon and him talking anyway, like he was the taller’s only source of information on what he had missed when he was away, and that Damian’s life was the only thing that sparkled his curiosity. The 3 of them sat on the long couch yet it felt too crowded for Damian that night, as the young Super seemed to have not even an ounce of respect for his privacy, like he always does. It was a hand around the neck, then the light forehead bump, the wrap around the shoulder that soon moved down to the waist and more than once got invasive under the hem of his shirt, then there was also that look. Even Damian was getting nervous. Was it always like that he wondered, was Jon’s touches always felt so intimating, so hot?  _

“Wow, fuck boy alert.” 

“Ducard!” 

“Well either that or your love induced brain was hallucinating because it sounded to me Jon was all over you. In front of his girlfriend.” 

“... I thought so too but if that was true then I wouldn’t be the only one whose brain messed up.” 

_ The whole time Ardeen was sitting on the other side of the couch just watching them. She didn’t say a word after a few failed attempts of joining in on their conversation and Jon wasn’t too bothered by that fact. At that point Clark and Lois had already retreated to themselves, sensing an awkward mood in the air that they decided not to get involved.  _

_ When Imra finally had enough and excused herself while making very clear that she was indeed upset, Damian wondered if Jon was really that dense or he was just a plain jerk when he didn’t even consider chasing after her, there is, afterall, a very thin line between the two. Instead the Super turned to him, all the while being ridiculously close as he smirked and whispered into Damian’s ear to ask if the smaller wanted to get out of there and grab a beer. _

“No, you fucking didn’t.” Maya shot up, looking at him like he had killed a puppy in front of her or something. “You didn’t fucking add alcohol to the equation. I raised you better than this!” 

“When the hell did you ever raise me woman? By the way now that you’re up, can you check my abdomen please? ‘Been stinging for a while.” 

“Jesus Christ Damian there’s a piece of broken sword as big as your ass stuck below your ribcage and you let it sit the whole time!?” Judging from the distasteful grimace on Maya’s face Damian suspects the wound must have gotten nastier than he had expected. 

“Well I thought it was just an old wound opening its mouth… can’t really keep track of every time people stab me in the fatal spots you know. Busy man.” 

“Your old wound also did open its mouth. The new wound kinda splashes across it. I can almost see your internal organs if not for the swelling flesh and oozing blood serum.” 

“...Fuck me.” 

“Like Jon did after you both got drunk as a skunk?” 

“Damn it Ducard. Go judge someone else’s life for a change.” Damian bit back a scream when his clothes rubbed on his cut by accident as Nobody had no choice but to rip them off him to start working on the injury. 

“Keep up with your story. It’ll work as a decent distraction.” 

“You’ve already known what happened next anyway.” 

_ His memory wasn’t having his back at the time, so he didn’t really remember how they got from that fuzzy brown couch to lying on top of each other out in the wheat field at 10pm, catching their breath then gluing their lips together again like 2 opposite magnets. He remembered how the cold grass brushed under his back as Jon slid a hand in, greedily exploring its way to every part of skin it could get. Damian wasn’t keeping his hands to himself either, with one tangling in the other’s dark locks and one tracing rawly on the Super’s stone like abs. Another thing that was so clear was that both their mouths tasted bitter, not the good kind like coffee, but something far more nasty.  _

_ Damian heard himself whimpered something when Jon was about to unbuckle his jean, then Jon looked up at him with this sparkling grin and said:  _

_ “I can’t believe my luck right now. Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle, just trust me to take care of you.”  _

_ The words that came out of his mouth were so kind and loving, Damian drowned and for a while, he forgot the million reasons why they shouldn’t be where they were, doing what they were doing. The older leaned down to kiss him gently on the head then resumed what he was doing a few seconds prior. _

_ Damian did trust Jon with both his body and his heart. It had hurt horribly, and that was to Damian who was no stranger to pain. It felt like he was being torn apart inside out. He tried his best not to scream and keep as much of his tears to himself as he could. Jon was showering him with praise and encouragement the whole time. Damian knew the taller too was using every will he had to behave as he had promised.  _

“...” 

“What? You ran out of judgemental sacram this time?” 

“You wish. It’s just hard to believe that you got deflowered in the middle of nowhere like that. In an affair to boot. You have had it hard lately haven’t you?”

“I’m so sorry I underestimated you, Ducard.” He finished just when Maya finally took the piece of metal out of his flesh, still connected to his body through a slightly thick trail of blood. Damian grunted lowly as he saw it being tossed aside to where its remaining probably lies. The pain is much worse now that the foreign object is out of his system. Robin shut his eyes and bit his lower lip, bent his head back to endure it when Maya wrapped it up. 

“Well that should do it for now. If we don’t want you dead we should probably head back to the base and have that goth chick-” 

“Raven.”

“-heal you with her Voodoo magic.” 

“See, this is why she doesn’t like you.” 

“I was kidding. And she’ so into you anyway, so even if she’s cute, she’s off the radar. 

Poor girl…

So, you hooked up with your dearest crush. What came next?”

“...” It’s probably due to the loss of blood that makes his eyelids heavier all of the sudden so he lets it shut. His muscles ease and his breath becomes slower, deeper. It’s a very long day, and he has been having far more short nights. 

“If you sleep now you will probably die.” Maya says and pats him not so lightly on both cheeks. But then again, his eyelids feel so heavy they overweight his frustration. 

“On me dit arrête, tu te fais du mal

Mais si j’ai à la tête-” 

“Damian?” 

“-C’est que tout me ramène à toi…”

“So it really was just a hookup huh?” 

But Robin doesn’t answer, he just keeps humming the tone to himself. 

“Et j’en ai marre

De voir tes yeux quand je ferme les miens

On a pas pris d’retard

Juste un autre chemin…” 

_ He woke up at 3 that morning, still out in the field, with Jon’s back against him the first thing he reached out to touch. Yet Jon didn’t respond, he was crouching on the spot next to his childhood friend, head in his hand, elbows met his knees. Even though it was as quiet as whispering could get, Damian was sure he heard curses.  _

“Mêmes couleurs qu'avant mais moins de lumière

J'aimerais écrire d'autres mots mais on ne lit que dans les rêves”

_ Sensing something was wrong, Damian sat up and pulled Jon back by the shoulders. And the blue eyes that met his own grassy green ones were all but guilt and regret. **Lots, lots of regret.** _

“Et je sais bien, tout ça doit sûrement te faire rire

Mais donnez moi le temps d'entendre ses sourires

Alors t'arrête pas, non j'ai plus mal à la tête

Je ne vois plus que toi, tu dois trouver ça bête” 

_ “How did this happen Damian?” Jon asked. And for the first time in his life he found it harder to get angry with so much mixed emotion running through his body at once like that. So he just started gathering his clothes, being slowly mindless as he was at it.  _

_ But Jon wasn’t having any of that. He yanked Damian wrist and forced the smaller to look his way. Then was Damian able to get mad.  _

_ “How, you asked? You didn’t seem so confused when you pushed me on my back.”  _

_ “I- That was just the alcohol!”  _

_ “The alcohol which was your idea from the start! You even brought out that ridiculously strong alien beer which I said was not going to end us well!”  _

_ The grasp on Damian’s hand became tighter, but if it hurt the Bat wasn’t going to let it show. Instead he shot back his trademark murder look that was sure to delivered the message to let go. And it worked. There was a new bruise added to his collection though, in a clear shape of 5 fingers. But the pain was elsewhere as memory of last night rushed in in a flash, of how gentle the person in front of him was just a few hours ago.  _

_ “I have a girlfriend, Damian.”  _

_ “So you do know that. I was wondering who you were preferring to yesterday when you said ‘This feels so much better’.”  _

_ Jon looked like his heat vision was going to burst out at any moment, but he kept it together and this time, being the one to look away.  _

_ “This… this is a mistake. We should have never drunk that much.” Another jab to his heart. “You’re right, it’s my fault… I led us to this… mess.” And another. “This means nothing, right?” And another. “We were drunk, we were stupid. We didn’t know better.” And another. “We should just forget this ever happened.” And another. “And Imra… Oh god, she’s a telepathic.” And another…  _

_ At some point it was just Jon rambling on and Damian not hearing anything but some buzzing sound.  _

_ He put on the last of his clothes, adjusted his slightly wrinkled and dirtied white shirt from the night before and turned to walk away toward the Kent farm. Then appeared from a whoosh Jon was again right in front of him, closing the gap between them with both hands grabbing on his shoulders.  _

_ “Damian, can you promise me that we will never talk about this again.”  _

_ When Damian looked down at the left side of his chest he couldn’t find his heart. Then his eyes caught the sight of it, a crushed piece of red meat under Jon’s foot, blood bleeding out dyed his vision red.  _

_ Yet he found himself just stepping away from Jon, smiling.  _

_ “Yeah, sure.  _

_ It was a mistake.  _

_ It means nothing.  _

_ It’s best to just pretend it’s never happened.”  _

“Et ne t'en fais pas, relève la tête le ciel est bleu

Compte un, deux, trois et tout ira mieux 

Mais le soleil se couche et tout redémarre

Ecoute les mes rêves gris s'envolent dans le noir de la nuit

Et j'en ai passé du temps à écrire toutes ces lignes

Et j'suis encore hésitante, est-ce que c'est vraiment utile?

C'est vrai le temps passe vite, mais c'est facile à dire

Moi j'ai plutôt l'impression qu'il ne fait que ralentir

Et j'en ai passé du temps à écrire toutes ces lignes

Et j'suis encore hésitante, est-ce que c'est vraiment utile?

C'est vrai le temps passe vite, mais c'est facile à dire

Moi j'ai plutôt l'impression qu'il ne fait que ralentir…” 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

As he opened his eyes, bright light flooded into them and immediately prompted them shut again, but he willed himself to stay awake and turned his head to the side, just in time to meet eyes to eyes with Raven, who was barely focusing on the open book floating in front of her. Though her expression was ever unchanging he could still make out a hint of lighten when she caught a sight of his movement. In no time at all she was already at his side with one hand on his forehead, examining for something wrong, her book left out of mind. 

“How are you feeling?” 

“A bit dizzy… I assume you patched me up?” 

“You had already lost your consciousness when Nobody brought you back, just in time. I was able to fix you up a little but it’ll take a while to recover from that massive blood loss.” There was a gentle warm purplish light coming out of Rave’s palm as she spoke and under it, Damian felt the strain in his heavy body slowly let loose, the pain in his head subsided. 

“Thank you, and sorry for the trouble.” 

“It’s only natural. But I expect you to come to me every time you get an injury, fatal or not, not when you’re a breath away from death.” 

“Well that’s a hard promise to keep.” Damian sat up slowly facing Raven’s direction, his head slightly nodded into her hand, seeking comfort from her magic, an act which brought crimson on the other’s cheeks, however faint it was. 

“Try to. I’d hate to not have my favourite violinist around anymore.” 

“And I was sure you thought I was an annoyance for the first few years we knew each other.” 

“Don’t be mistaken, you are still an annoying brat. But your music soothes me, and sometimes your presence does too.” 

“How are you holding up with your father?” 

“I’ve been hearing him less lately.”

“That’s something you want to hear. I’m glad for you Rachel.” 

Damian never really gets together with the Titans anymore as he realized the solitude suits his way better, but strange as it might be he got closer to them through some rare collaborations, especially to Raven. The witch’s control over her father’s imprisonment was getting worse and she was stuck in a whirlpool to hell, but for some reason, hearing Damian’s violin was the only thing that worked. The Bat plays when he is troubled, it helps him let go of the grimace he can’t reach in his heart, and apparently Raven can benefit from that too. From time to time the Titan even convinced him to audit at the local theatre, which he got first chair, and though he keeps reminding her this was just for her sake both of them know Damian needs this too. 

“Maybe while I’m recovering here I can play for you. Exclusive performance for my favorite Titan.”    
“Please, we all know that’s Richard.” She wasn’t wrong, but he can have 2 favourites, or 3. Nobody is kinda like a part-timer, but she’s an official Titan no less. “But I’d appreciate that, as long as you don’t push yourself.” 

Damian just nodded obediently and shutting his eyes, letting comfortable silence sweep over them as he rested. But it wasn’t for long, just a few minutes when there was a knock on the open door of Raven’s chamber, and though none of them needed to look they knew who it was by the voice. 

“Might if I interrupt?” 

“Superboy, you’re interrupting nothing.” Raven said, sounding cold and stoic as her usual self again. 

“Hmm.” Jon, however, isn’t a Titan, and they have never crossed paths in their line of work before, so he shouldn’t be having any business here, Damian thought as the Super walked over to him. 

“You’re good?” 

“Not dead yet, but my pride took a greater hit. There goes my perfect Ninja Zombie score.” 

Superboy almost laughed at that, but he held back just in time and tried to keep up a stern face. 

“It’s not a game you know. That was a real life all out zombie war. You should have called me.” 

“Yeah, you’d have loved that.” 

“I wouldn’t! 

… Well, I would. But still, your heart was so weak it almost stopped beating. And when I superspeeded here they said you were as good as dead when Maya brought you in. I was worried sick!” 

“Well, I’m fine now. So you can return to wherever or whatever you superspeeded from.” 

Then followed an awkward silence, where Damian stubbornly tried to ignore Jon by not opening his eyes, Raven being Raven and Superboy standing awkwardly beside them with a distress expression on his usual cheery face. 

“I’m sorry Raven, but can I talk to Damian in private, please?” Again Jon broke the silence. Raven hesitated in answering but complied when Robin gave her an approval nod. 

“Thank you Rae, I’m good now. And I’m sure whatever Superboy wants to discuss it’s important.” Damian said and stood up, walked out the door while signaling the taller to join him. “This is her room Jon, she’s not going anywhere. Come on, we’ll finish this at my quarter.”

* * *

“They still keep your room after you left?”

“It’s a big building, and my family is paying so…” 

And that’s the furthest extent of their conversation on their awkward trip to Damian’s place that felt like forever even though it’s on the same floor. Robin grunted sometime due to the pain recoiling without Raven’s care, and Superboy followed close behind in fear his ex-partner was going to fall. He wanted to put a supporting hand on the other’s hip, but taking into account of recent events decided against it. 

Once they arrived at his quarter Damian wasted no time to get to the instant painkiller serum in the cabinet beside his bed and injected them, immediately the strain on his face relaxed with a relieving sigh. 

“Hurts pretty bad huh?” 

“Hardcore dark magic stuff… Even Raven can’t heal it right away.” 

“Magical zombie ninjas. That should be on the next release of that game.” 

Usually Damian is fond of game chit chat concerning his favorites, but blood loss and sleep deprivation plus a broken heart can make him too sore of an ass to humor others, a task which he doesn’t even do much anyway. 

“Just say what you came to say and leave me be.” 

They were followed up with yet another uncomfortable silence. Jon did look like he had a lot to say, so much that they all got stuck in his throat. It happens sometime, Damian is used to this behavior, being childhood/ best friends and all. Whenever he Jon thinks too much about what he is going to say he’d stumble. Like the many times he got hooked on some new hobbies and rambled on with mixed words that Damian soon learnt to rearrange himself in his head. But this time he probably wants to say it right, so Damian just sits and waits. He doesn’t have anything better to do in this state anyway. 

After a while Jon took a deep breath to calm himself and finally said:

“You’re still mad at me for the day before aren’t you? I kept thinking about it and realized how much of a jerk I was to you.” Jon started with a few cautious steps, closing the gap between them. It wasn’t like Damian was keeping distance anyway as he just remained where he was on his bedside. The taller knelt down in front of him and looked up, his blue eyes saddened and Damian knew right away what he was trying to do. “I’m really sorry.” 

The fucker has the ball to do puppy eyes now. 

The ex-assassin is ashamed that it works every time. But he’s not letting go of his ground so easily like that. 

“... Save that for your girlfriend instead.” He averted his eyes but it was too late, he had already taken damage. 

“Well that’s what I want to talk to you about. See, I did meet up with Imra after that to come clear and apologize…” As expected of Superman’s son, Damian supposes, always has to be so damn righteous. “While I was on my way I rehearsed what I was going to say to her, I was ready to beg for her forgiveness, how it was just a mistake…” And again Damian got uncomfortable with this conversation.

“I can’t imagine how hard it’d be to forgive the Golden Child begging at your feet.” 

“People need to stop calling me that, especially you.” 

“I think it’s endearing.” Honestly to him that was not all just sarcasm, he does like the way the words roll on his tongue when he uses them to refer to Jon. 

“So you kissed and made up I assume. Good you for you.” 

“Well… Not really.” Did his ears deceive him or did that Saturn Girl really pass on the chance to keep her ‘One true Superman’ or whatever it was they kept calling Jon. 

“Like I said I was thinking about how it was just a mistake, but the more I thought of it the more… uncomfortable I got from calling it that.” 

“What?” 

“I know I was the one who kept saying it was a mistake we should forget… I know that…” 

Jon pressed his forehead on Damian’s kneels. “But it means far more than that for me…

I… I don’t know…

I just can’t stop thinking about that night. About you.

Your figure, your eyes, your voice… how you called my name, I want to hear that again… I was meeting my girlfriend and all I could make up in my poor little mind was you.” 

For a rare chance in his life Damian was dumbfounded and it was being incredibly hard to take in what his best friend was pouring out from his heart. Jon took another deep inhale before letting go for courage, and looked up at him again.

“I think I’m in love with you.” 

Damian thought it was unfair that Jon had super hearing and despite his protest kept listening in on his heart, because it just skipped a beat. Stupid heart, but he can always trust his face to remain stoic and his mouth to spout cruelty even in times like this. 

“From a hookup? I’m flattered.”    
“Damian I’m really sorry for the way I treated you that morning. You gave yourself to me and I gave you my word to treat you well yet I was such an ass.” 

“...Just finish your story. How did Ardeen take it?” Honestly he couldn’t care less, but at the same time anything would do to help him stray away from that hurtful memory and the wild feeling in his heart.

“...She knew the moment I stood in front of her, asked if I could promise this was only a one time thing, and got the answer before I could say anything. 

We broke up… I even got a punch from Lightning Lad when I left, he ended up breaking his hand though. 

So I suppose I won’t be hanging around the Legion for a while, except for emergencies.”

“I see…” Then yet again they fell into another break, both unsure what to say next, busy with the disorganizing flows of thoughts and emotion running through them. The word was already said, and while Jon was being afraid that Damian would just decide to ignore it, the smaller was repeating it continuously in his head to make sure his tired mind didn’t mess something up due to the lack of blood. 

“So…” At some point Jon just opened his mouth under the stress of silence still without a clue of what to say. But someone had to break it first, or else the both of them would just be sitting quietly in each other’s presence for the rest of the day. “... I was kinda wondering since I’ll be around a lot, and you’re not with anyone anyway… I mean with someone as a partner in crime- no partner in fighting crime!” He mentally slapped himself and took another breath to collect his thoughts so as not to sound so much like an idiot. “I… I was hoping that maybe we… you know… be the Super Sons again.

I-I understand if you don’t want to-”

“Good, because I don’t want to.” Damian just cut in bluntly, efficiently delivering a direct stab to Jon’s heart. 

“I-I see… Sorry I asked-” 

“At least for now. Constantine is stacking me up with missions that involve too dangerous dark magic to call a Super.” And at that Jon looked up again, with hope glimmering in his eyes. 

“Ah… Magic may be my weakness but I can still help, lowering the risk of you getting wounds like this at least.” 

“By charging in front of me and taking it instead? No thank you. You can help, but it won’t be necessary. You’re busy enough as Superboy here in this time too anyway.”

“... Then when you finish with them, would you think about my offer?” 

“I’ll consider it.” Almost as soon as the words left his mouth Jon turned back to his sunshine overwhelmingly beaming again, maybe even brighter than usual, with the trademark smile and laughing eyes and all. 

“That’s good enough for me. 

Well, I guess I’ll leave you to your rest then.” 

Then just when Jon was at the door Damian finally built up the courage to ask about the gigantic elephant in the room. 

“About what you said…” His heart almost stopped as his hand did on the knob of the door, Jon half hope yet half dread that the other would bring up the subject of his confession after all. “... you know, before the Super sons ordeal. Did you mean it?” 

“Yes.” Jon didn’t hesitate. He had been hesitating about facing his feelings for the person who was supposed to be his best friend for too long of a time it turned into an ugly outcome. So no more holding back. “I mean every word I said.” 

From across the room Damian showed no trait of a reaction, except for the slight crimson hue on his ears that Jon caught with his enhanced vision. 

“I don’t expect an answer, especially after what I did… I just want you to know.” 

“Ok.” 

“Sleep long, sleep well, Damian. You deserve it. I’ll see you later.” 

It was indeed his every intention to spend the next of his forced day off in slumber. He hadn’t had a decent sleep on a decent bed for too long for a normal human to function. Yet right then he just knew as he slowly laid himself on his comfortable bed at the Titan tower he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all. One thing for sure he won’t be telling Maya this, or else his ears would be ripped apart as she goes on about how much of a pathetic pile he had let himself turn into. Or she would start giving him the look and giggle instead, which in his argument, is way worse. 


End file.
